open Casual stroll

[Holiday Agnaktor 1,435]

@Summer Breeze

@Blitz Boom

 

Frosty flinched when Lotus kicked the stressball at him, and in his slight panic, froze it solid. Freezing the threat as a panic action usually works, because ponies usually try to hit you.

The stressball, that was now as hard as a rock from the cold, hit him right between the eyes.

 

"Ouch! What was that fo- oh, I kinda deserved that one. I'm terribly sorry."

 

He rubbed the sore spot on his forehead, brushing little bits of ice out of his mane.

 

"I'm just kind of surprised that Nerzhei would have a bunny as a pet, that's all. I hope you understand."

 

Frosty frowned when Nerzhei mentioned a "little surprise". That couldn't mean anything good.

 

"When they discover the "little surprise", will we be very far away? Because if not, then I advise against it."

 

He looked at Lotus, who probably hated him at this point, and then gathered a lot of rocks with magic. He concentrated for a few seconds, and turned his rock pile into a carrot slightly bigger than Lotus. He slowly levitated it over to her, and put it on the ground in front of her.

 

"Do you, eeeh, like carrots? Cause this is a...carrot. Eeeeh. Yeah, I didn't mean to be rude before, so here's a little "I'm sorry" gift."

 

Frosty frowned for a second, before adding:

 

"Also, just a heads-up, I'm not completely sure it tastes 100% like proper carrot. It's my first time transforming rock into carrot, and I'm not sure I got the proper amount of every element."

 

He squinted, sniffed the carrot, and gave it a good prod.

 

"Yeah, it's a bit on the red side. That's a bit too much lycopene. Oh well, it's not poisonous. I hope."

 

Frosty tried smiling at Lotus, but only half succeeded, because he had gotten a headache from that frozen stressball. That ball hurt more than it should have.

[EQ_Theta 416]

@@Blitz Boom

 

The black creature continued to ravage the village, each strike sending shockwaves through the air and cutting through much of the buildings. Lin brushed off the debris on her and searched through the wreckage and noticed a lone longma walking about, a young one calling out to someone, possibly her mother. Lin approached her and just as she got close, the larger creature turned around and swatted Lin off to the side again. She was suspecting it could use magic like her and fired a bolt of energy straight at it, hoping to keep it away from the child. Whether or not she was fortunate or not for doing so, the blow connects and it redirects its attention to her.

 

"You want a fight? Here I am!"

Lin ran past a burning hut and the creature followed her, avoiding most of the scared villagers who barely notice her. The child noticed this and ran away to find a hiding spot. Once she reached the clearing, Lin created a construct of light orbs to get better a better look at the creature and what she saw shocked her and confirmed her suspicions: it was a dark reflection of her but it also sported some of Omen's features and coloration. She remembered what Omen's mother told her about a cure: she could keep some magic with her but she would end up becoming similar to her friend, a hybrid of sorts. 

 

She shrugged this off along with the growing pain in her chest and fired off another bolt at the creature, hitting it square in the face. It retaliated by running head-first into her but Lin was slowed by injuries and pain, and was tossed up and over back into the village. She crashed into a hut and found the little longma she saw earlier, now hiding under a table. At this point, she felt the full brunt of her injures and could only muster up enough for defenses. 

Without many options left and the creature slowly approaching her, she prepared a shield spell and reached out to the child. "I'll keep you safe, little one. I'm not going to let it hurt you." With a bit of hesitation, the child approached Lin and huddled close to her before the latter put up the shield. 

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@@EQ_Theta,

 

*Lin* raised a claw and sent Omen to her knees with a magical blast, yet she did still not let go  of the possessed Longma.

 

"You dare to stand against me, even after all of this, servant?"

 

Another blast came, this time stronger and brought her all the way to her belly, yet Omen slowly got up again and looked at the being with the same, unblinking gaze full of conflicted thoughts and pain. Not from her somewhat aching body, but from her head, still swirling with voices screaming for and against everything. Logic against emotions, self against others, caught in  maelstrom in her scalp.

 

"Won't... Let you."

 

The longma used her tail to wave around, indicating the chaotic lands around them whilst looking very, Very displeased.

 

"All of this. Everything you wanted and have gone for, and Now you try and go against it. And for what? For them!? "

 

Another blast smashed against Omen, who just rinsed and repeated what she had done thus far. Everything she really knew how to do as well really, as she wasn't a violent being and didn't know how to fight. Heck, she didn't even know how to begin if she were actually going to do it. She just knew how to protect, and even that were very tame methods that hardly involved any physical alterations.

 

"You have already betrayed them. The girl is mine, and even if I let him go now, the boy would never walk again. You have nothing to gain from helping these two, and everything to loose. Your home. Your master. Yourself!"

 

Sickly magic wrapped around Omen and bored into her flesh, spreading their pollution across her being until suddenly, something started to feel very wrong. Not the energy, disgusting as it were, but instead the unmistakable feeling of her body starting to slowly unravel.

 

It wasn't pain that she felt, even if she would have been able to place the emotion right, but rather the reverse of when Discord had imparted her with parts of his magic to form her. As if something was now being slowly taken away from her form and pulled away, rather than mixing and create something that couldn't stay stable before. A form that she were in the process of being returned to from what it felt like and - from the random dust starting to float off her - looked like.

 

"I have been patient with you, but this is your last chance: Do you live serving, or die trying to protect?"

 

"I..."

 

Her step wavered, unsure on how to walk with her form starting to loose volume.

 

"Choose..."

 

It was strange how far it had to get before she could finally see clearly. For all she had said and all she had done, she had never contemplated if she would make a choice that would end with her unformed, or even dead. She had lived for so long that the mere notion had barely crossed her mind, and only passingly, and yet... Here it were. The time when going against what cold logic would suggest was the smartest - in this case, accept the world she had regained, her new master, and accepting that there was nothing she could do for Sen and Lin anyway - would actually end having that consequence.

 

A wrong choice could spell the end, yet for some reason...

 

"Them..."

 

A gate appeared beneath Sen and swallowed him whole, closing and bringing him to safety whilst Omen stood alone with the possessed Lin. A choice that would mean her doom, but oddly enough, she felt at peace about it.

 

Through all that were said and done in her mind, when the time had come for the final choice, a voice had cut through the rest. One thought, carrying words that started to drown out to others until the only thing that were left were it, along with the image of the smiling Sen in front of her.

 

"I will help you... Friend."

 

Perhaps it would spell her end, but what did that mean compared to living the rest of her life knowing that she had failed the one being that actually called her a friend, and tried to understand her? To remember every day that the one, single soul that had ever truly cared outside of her family, and that she had sworn to help, had meant nothing when it came down to it?

 

*Lin* saw Omen fail imaging a life like that, as well as the other realisations that started to dawn on her, but instead of crushing the little mare as she had been doing, instead the possessed longma smiled.

 

"That's what I wanted to hear."

 

Everything around them started to blur out and vanish until the only thing that were left were Omen - completely whole like nothing had ever happened to her - and the being from before, standing in Discord's form. Around them, the only thing were darkness, but it felt like there were something else here, it were just hidden.

 

Had this all been an illusion?

 

"Yep, every last bit of it. Not the most nice thing, I know, but we can't just let everypony in here, can we? Have to scrounge through and see who's worth letting in. It's good enough for me to see that you meant what you said, but still-"

 

*Discord's* paw went on her head faster than the confused Omen could react on it.

 

"-buckle up, 'cause we're not done travelling down the rabbit hole."

 

(You can decide if Omen comes to help Lin now, or if this is foreshadowing for another time, and she'll just be back in the cage.)

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@Frosty Frost,

@@Summer Breeze,

 

"No, what I have in mind will happen while I'm still here. They need to know who it is that's teaching them a lesson."

 

With that, Nerzhei came over and gently took the big book away from the ponies and put it in a special part of her bag, separate from the others. And with that, it seemed like she were done packing, as she grabbed the box in it's handle and made sure the leather bag hanging down her side stood fine, while the belt holding it stayed firmly over her shoulder.

 

Yet, she wasn't moving out right now, and instead looked at the rocks turned carrots with the direct opposite kind of stare as Lotus had. Hence, instead of her pets cautious and disturbed look, Nerzhei instead had a glimmer of interest and wonder going over her eyes.

 

"Transmutation magic? You can actually..."

 

She reached out a claw, though Lotus jumped up and clutcher her wrist, helping her to snap out of the fascination ans awe that had suddenly gone over her from seeing this kind of thing.

 

"Sorry, just... The possibilities of something like this is staggering."

 

She didn't say more, but instead just shook her head, let Lotus jump up her arm, away from the *carrots* to place herself on the dragons left shoulder, and waved everyone inside the tent outside. On the way there, she took up the three gems on the table, but held them apart in her claws, though nothing else went with her as she moved outside and waited for the rest of them to follow her.

 

Outside, Lyriel would grab hold of Blitz and pull her up from her playtime and into her arms like she were a stuffed animal as she saw the others come out of the tent again. She thought on saying something, but she had so many things she could question about how it looked to be only books and something in a sturdy crate that Nerzei took with her, but not any blankets, pictures or the like, that just didn't feel right to prod into, and to make sure that she didn't step on it and potentially make this a very awkward road ahead of them. she kept her mouth closed for the time being.

 

Perhaps, she'd learn more about what they were going on soon? One could hope so at least, though for Blitz only one thing counted as she looked at the others with a big grin on her face and pointing towards the small tower of objects on the ground.

 

"Anypony wanna play Magic Items Jenga?"

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Minty_The_Sweet, @@Blitz Boom, Astral looked to Misty and then back to Null and Void."Maybe we can show you the way to the train station that leads to Canterlot and you can take it from there."

 

Misty tapped Astral's leg. "Can we come with them?" Astral shook her head. "Why not?"

 

"You can't control yourself when we go there, it's like your self control just vanishes." Misty sighed. Astral turned back to Null and Void. "Anyways, are you okay with that plan? or you could take the map if you aren't, we don't need the map anyways."

 

Misty grumbled and went back over to their house. "I'll get some snacks."

[Summer Breeze 2,522]

@@Blitz Boom,@@Frosty Frost,

 

when summer heard that nerzhei had a little 'surprise' for the dragons her ears pricked up. sometimes surprises were good and fun but nerzhei, or any for the dragons, didn't look like they were the type for the fun type of surprise. and she got even more worried when she heard that they wouldn't be away yet when the surprise would happen 

 

"The 'surprise' is not going to make the other dragons spit fire at us, right?" summer asked nerzei worried as she walked out of the tent. but, she was worried that she already knew what the awnser was going to be.

 

the little blitz asked if they wanted to play 'magic item jenga'. summer looked at the pile of stuff on the ground and then she looked at blitz again. the happy little filly made her a lot less worried about nerzheis surprise. 

 

"sure!" summer said to blitz and she sat down next to the pile of stuff. normally she wouldn't even come close to anything involving magic, let alone mess with it but it looked fun and these weren't pony magic items. and the ods of one of those items casting a spell on her were super tiny. summer wasn't actually sure if an item could do that, it probably could but that didn't matter now.

[EQ_Theta 416]

@@Blitz Boom

 

(I think Omen can intervene in the next post)

The little child held on to Lin tightly and closed her eyes, hoping that Lin would keep her word and she'd come out safe. At the same time, she snuggled a bit, nuzzling Lin's chest and for a moment, Lin's mind jogged. She remembered the moment she huddled close to her unconscious brother while she was readying herself for the end and thought about this small but touching moment.

 

For a moment, there was this feeling of anticipation. The shield was up but there wasn't any effort to hold back the creature approaching them both, and Lin forgot why she was on her quest, though only because someone else was at risk. It seemed like forever until she would meet the monster face to face but that was just it: it really was taking forever until it arrived. The older longma noticed the younger child was no longer in her midst and right above her was "Sen," reaching out to her.

 

So you'd risk yourself for the little one? Even when you are running out of time?

"I would." Lin grabbed hold of the claw reaching to her and got up. She followed "Sen" as he took her around the house that slowly grows blacker and blacker. "But what was the point of all of this? What is it that you want me to say?"
 

Without an answer, all of this will persist. The image of Sen wandered far away with nothing more to say. Lin, growing scared and desperate, ran after him but the further she ran, the more the former would gain distance until it was infinite. 

"Sen? Sen! What do you want me to say? Please help me! Don't leave me here!"

 

Lin screamed and pleaded but the only reply she got was silence. The more she did so, the more desperate she got, and she wasn't sure if Omen could hear her or if her cries would fall on nobody's ears. But she did so and continued, if only because her hopes fell to waiting for something almost impossible would happen.

Edited August 4, 2016 by EQ_Theta

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@@Minty_The_Sweet,

@,

 

Null and Void looked at one another, then at Butterfly with a more or less identical look of concern on their face. They weren't the sort that stopped down and helped anypony they fell across normally as, y'know, they had enough trouble getting hunted, and changelings weren't high on their list of beings to have gotten near voluntarily since... Nevermind. Point were that though they normally didn't go the soft route, this place were so far pretty safe in it and had some more open-minded sorts, and they weren't monsters - regardless of what they were often told - so what they saw with Butterfly made them worried about what would happen.

 

They had heard stories about what happened if changelings didn't eat love for long enough, and none of them ended with anything good happening for neither the changeling, nor potential bystanders. It was unliely that all of them were correct, sure, but when all of them agreed on bad things happening one way or another, it started to catch on that this was pretty likely to be a truth.

 

Yet, as they had said, they couldn't feed her themselves. The anti-magic kept any sort of strange things like this from affecting them, and with no idea how to - if it were even posible that were - to turn it off, that route were a dead end. But still, they could at least try and help her get towards somepony else. She were too small to overwhelm and eat somepony outright, so it were likely safe enough, long as she didn't lurk around a school.

 

"Alright kid, just try not getting too close to us when we're in town, yeah? Your costume's gonna fall of fast if you're taking that chance."

 

"A-And it'd be nice if you c-could uhm... Show us the station. Maps are a l-little confusing sometimes. Also, I-I'm sorry that your friend can't c-come Astral. Though, c-can it really be that b-bad?"

 

They each took one to speak with regarding the things at hoof. Or well, Void took two, as she addressed both the station and questioned why Misty couldn't come even if she might get a little out of control - she were a foal, so it seemed a normal and not that bad thing to happen, for her at least - but they each did their part as they waited for their take-off towards the city that'd get them towards Canterlot, and closer to the only rulers they knew of that might understand and allow them a place in their country rather than on a most wanted list.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@EQ_Theta,

 

"I won't. Friend."

 

The projected words would filter into Lin's mind before Omen were even in sight, but shortly after, she'd show to the right of Lin and the child. No big reveal or magical jazz, just a slight *pop* and there she were. A little anti-climatic, but considering what else were going on in this scenario, perhaps the special effects budget were too strained already to provide anything better.

 

Whatever it were, Omen weren't sure, but it seemed like there were some kind of strange thing moving towards them that looked oddly like a mutated Lin if she squinted her eyes a little, and that they stood in some strange place with other longma. Or at least she thought she saw that, it were dark were they stood right now and it made things hard to make out. Plus, she weren't sure, but it almost looked like it just got darker. Regardless, considering what she had just gone trough herself, something told her that this were some of Lin's home, or at least a memory of it? She were still not sure exactly what were going on, and if it were illusions, teleportation, dreams, or something else that they were going through to see these things.

 

"Though, where's here? Looks strange."

 

What she did know were that she had heard Lin scream about not wanting to be left here alone, and as she wandered closer to the female longma, Omen would hesitantly try to reach out a hoof to put on the shoulder of Lin, as a sort of way to also show that she were here, though she wasn't exactly sure this is what it meant. Could also be that she had just challenged Lin to a game of tag by accident.

[Holiday Agnaktor 1,435]

@Blitz Boom

@Summer Breeze

 

Frosty looked pretty disappointed when he saw Lotus' expression.

 

"What? You don't like it? B-but, I made it for you like a...a...what'sername..."I'm-sorry-gift", and you don't like it? Awww..."

 

He took a sad look at the suspiciously red, giant carrot, and took a small bite.

 

"Hey, I mean, it isn't even that- uurgh -bad, it's just...unique. Well, that's definitely too much lycopene. Good thing she didn't eat it. Dear Celestia, that's awful."

 

He struggled to keep a straight face for a few seconds, before turning to Nerzhei.

 

"Yes, transmutation magic. Before I got into freezing things, I used to transmute things. Stuff like cheap materials to fancy furniture, water to iced tea, dry bread to chocolate cakes, stuff like that. I could make you a parfait, right here, right now. It's a handy skill to have, making deserts out of random junk."

 

Frosty followed Nerzhei out the tent, wondering what sort of evil she was going to do with those gems. Probably something incredibly annoying for the other dragons.

When he heard Blitz mention "Magic Items Jenga" he immediately looked at where Blitz was pointing. This jenga didn't sound like a very good idea. And when Summer agreed to it, he didn't feel safer.

 

"Uhhm, Nerzhei, how much magic is left in those gems? Because I don't know if jenga with high-powered magic items is a good idea."

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Blitz Boom,  @@Minty_The_Sweet, "She ran off last time we went there, it took several hours for me to locate her." Astral turned to Misty. "But, to be honest we only ever went to Canterlot once." She said turning back to them. "I guess I'm judging from first experiences with Canterlot."

 

Misty smiled. "So are you saying that you've changed your mind?"

 

Astral chuckled. "Technically yes, we can go with them to Canterlot as long as you don't walk ahead of me."

 

Misty jumped up repeatedly, yelling "Yes!" Multiple times, leading Astral to start chuckling at Misty.

 

Astral picked the map up and looked around.  "Considering it's been awhile since I've used a map, I may be inexperienced so don't blame me if we get lost"

[EQ_Theta 416]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Upon hearing a familiar voice and after a bit of looking around, Lin pull herself up and ran to the source. A friendly and reassuring sight it was, and she didn't care if it was real or not; she hugged Omen and breathed a sigh of relief. She had much to go through to make sure she gets out with what the image of her brother wanted, but this brief respite was much more than welcomed.

 

"I'm so glad you're here!" Lin closed her eyes and savored the moment, tenderly hugging Omen like she would her parents or her brother, before letting go. She took a good look around the place, or what was left of it before the last images of those faded away. "This place was my home, or what looks to be my old home before I was exiled. This whole forest was a village full of love and kindness but I made a choice to turn my back away from it. I was angry with what they did to Sen but that little child..."

 

Lin remembered that look on the child's face. Scared and alone, desperate for her mother and somehow, she clung onto her hoping fill in what empty feelings she had at the time. 

"Whatever it is that... thing who impersonates Sen, he wants an answer. 'What is it that I really seek?' That creature terrorizing the inhabitants of this village, it looked like me but it had aspects of your appearance as well. If that is really meant to be me once I'm cured, would that make me a monster? I remember what your mother told me; if I choose to keep some magic in me, it would make me similar to you. I gain some of your abilities."  

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@@Frosty Frost,

@@Summer Breeze,

 

Nerzhei looked at Summer and Blitz after the notion of playing jenga with the magical items came into place, and internally gave off a sigh. She might be getting away from a bunch of thick-headed brutes at this point, but what she saw here would be the trade-off: Beings having no idea what they were dealing with, but thinking it was surely something to play with.

 

Still, at least Frosty seemed concerned about not playing with this, so perhaps it wouldn't all devolve into chaos. For now she wasn't all that optimistic, but it wasn't like she had a choice in the matter as it were anyway, so it was just to bite in and hope the apple wasn't sour.

 

Or well, she Could state her case to the dragon lord and hope to have the decision terminated, but at this point she really didn't care anymore. Even if - and that was a big if - the dragon lord would hear her out and actually do something about this, she'd still be stuck around these... brutes. Pony-kin were annoying to her in other ways from her personal experiences the last hour, but at least they didn't shun knowledge as much. She'd have an uphill battle trying to get to anything without incident more than likely, but really, how was that different from here?

 

"They're not dangerous unless you smash them, and I don't make things from brittle glass. Though I'd walk away from them anyway if I were you."

 

She put down the crate some way from the tent and cracked her knuckles on the now-free hand. Not in a threatening way, but it might come off that way regardless as she were a dragon, and ponies didn't have the best of views on them. Not all of it unjustified really, but in this case, it wasn't a threat, just her getting ready for something whilst waving the others a little away from the pile of baubles and other random trinkets.

 

"Took me years to make these, and replicating them will be near impossible for the others unless they have listened, and I know they haven't. So they need to handle these carefully, or their defences will falter a little. Something Krahvus for sure won't allow them."

 

When the ponies and Lyriel were far enough from the stack of things, Nerzei would take the three crystals in her right hand and gently... or okay, nothing gnetle about what she did really.

 

Clecnhing them together in a fist, a black aura went across her hand, along with the sparks associated with her using her earth magic. At the same time, the earth would rumble slightly as spiky, dark rocks started to spout from the ground and engulf the items, spreading them in the growing capsule of stone - that also covered her tent - before getting completely covered as more spikes, twists and turns came on the little, sharp hill she were making.

 

When it were all done, she looked at the guards starring down at her from their position on the gates with a grin on her face and a challenging look in hr eyes.

 

"Tell the others that if you want the things, you best have patients. Go too roughly to work, and you'll just end up breaking it."

 

With that, she took her box up again and looked towards the ponies and Lyriel.

 

"Time to go. We have someplace to go briefly, and then we're headed for the border."

 

She opened her hand to show the gems, now slightly blue and see-through instead of dark as before. She wanted to show them what she meant with expending stored magic, and especially to make sure that Frosty saw how the gems he wanted looked like.

 

"Didn't think I forgot, did you?"

 

With that, she turned and began to walk towards the outside gate, expecting the others to follow.

 

Back at the spiky rock, Lyriel stood with Blitz still clutched in her arms like a teddybear, not knowing exactly what to say about this, but getting the idea that they should get going fast before news about what Nerzhei had done started to spread too far. Sure, she had wanted this to be seen, but something told her that it wouldn't be good to linger regardless, just in case.

 

"This have been... Interesting, but perhaps we should be on our way, and towards Equestria then."

 

"Yey, back home again."

 

The dryad walked with the cheering Blitz in her arms, getting more and more the impression that she would have to watch out for this one when settling in the forest. Something about the way she had clapped and giggled at seeing the display of magic didn't make her seem all that... Stable, to her.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@EQ_Theta,

 

The hug confused her a little, but she tried to give one back too as Lin embraced her, though it were frankly clunky and awkward. Physical shows of emotion really wasn't her speciality in any sort of way, so mimicking often had to come into play when that happened, yet she hadn't been able to really make it feel smooth and natural at this point.

 

What she did do well was listen, and considering how much Lin seemed to have to say that came much more into play as the world around them started to fade away.

 

There were a lot of things there to take in. Mainly that something had impersonated Sen - perhaps the same thing that had gone after her? Or another of the same kind at least? - that the place she had seen where were the siblings came from, something about the being needing an anwer, and her wondering if she'd become a monster if she became anything like Omen. How that were to be she had no idea, but it sounded like Mother had spoken to her about that, and Mother knew best what could happen.

 

A small comment had also been made about a child, but it had not been finished. Why she didn't know, but perhaps something about it weren't important, or it were personal. Far as she heard, that tended to be the reasons for not elaborating too much on something at least, so she'd suppose one of those as well.

 

"You don't change from who you are.

 

Mother tells us that before we get forms, to remind us that even if we learn from our masters, we are still us. We don't forget where we are from, we don't go mad, and we don't knowingly hurt. If this were you, you would have to want to hurt them. Do you?"

 

Omen tilted her head to the side as she stepped back so she could look Lin in the face. She might not know what Mother had said to her, or what it'd be to be a sort of mixture between longma and ki'nathar - though she'd be less unique than she might think, as Omen's kind had bred with others before, albeit she didn't think there were others than her in Equestria currently - but she did know what she had been told and tried herself, and she had not turned into a monster.

 

Some would disagree, and say that she indeed were because of who she served, but what they thought didn't change who or what she actually were, just like gaining form hadn't either. Sure, she had changed some from her time in her home, but that was mostly in ways to see things, understanding of other things and such that would come from being a mostly blank state like she were. In the end, she were still a curious, essentially harmless being with all the basic things imprinted into her mind that Mother had told her, and that wasn't going away.

 

"If you became part of us, you would still have a life and a mind of your own. You're not a blank state like us, and don't need masters to teach you things. You already know who you are, and what you want, so you would have to want to be a monster, and... I don't think you are."

 

The recent memory of the possessed Lin came to mind as she paused, but she knew that this wasn't her. Heck, it hadn't even been any kind of Lin in that scenario. It had been Malvernis, controlling an empty body, and unless something took over whatever body Lin might get that was a mixture between her normal form and her current, darker form, gifted by Mother, she shouldn't change who she were.

 

"Being special doesn't make you a monster."

 

She didn't know what else to say, or how to respond to the part where Lin asked what answer she were supposed to give. Only she would know what she really wanted, right? Well, beyond learning where that last quote Omen gave came from, she'd likely not want to know that, considering it had been imparted to Omen from Discord. Few really took things to them when she started to say what her master had told her.

[EQ_Theta 416]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Lin thought about the other questions asked of her, like if she trusted herself with what she wanted or if she really wanted it. Seeing the monster and then looking at herself, it wasn't immediately clear if she had an answer that could satisfy "Sen" but there was more to it than that. Maybe the answers he wanted was not for himself to hear and judge, but possibly for herself. When time itself had stopped and the world shifted into one of total emptiness, she must've done something to warrant that change.  

 

"I... I guess. Sen's always been looking out for me and making the big choices on my behalf." Lin paced about on her spot and introspected, her voice much softer."Maybe it's time I start making my own. I seek to be cured, I want to learn about magic and what makes those who wield their kinds different from others. And I will own up to these choices and their consequences." 

 

Once she finished, "Sen" appeared again. He didn't sport a blank expression on his face and anticipated any confusion from Lin's part, but instead smiled. He approached Lin and Omen and spoke in a much calmer, softer tone. 

You understand now that what brought you here was a choice. You acted on what you wanted but also considered what your actions could mean for others, and learned that you don't have to take on every challenge alone. The path will unfold itself but this test will either be over... or far from over. What becomes of this, you will see in good time. That goes for your friend as well. Take care, both of you.

 

The image of Sen disappeared with a gust of wind and both Omen and Lin are back in the descending cage. The veins in the rock walls surrounding their cage returned to a more calming blue and shone brighter than before. Lin wondered about the nature of the wellspring for a time and thought about the parting words given to both her and Omen. Would this be the first of many tests, or was it hinting at what is to come? She didn't voice out her thoughts on the matter, but she felt there was something to say.

She turned to Omen and happily said "Thank you so much, Omen. I wouldn't know how things would've turned out if you hadn't come along and helped me back there! How about you, though? Are you alright? Did you have to go through something like that?" 

Edited August 6, 2016 by EQ_Theta

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@@EQ_Theta,

 

So That were her test then? And here she had begun to think it was something about fear.

 

Still, the reason for Lin's test made more sense when she thought about it, though she did wonder why they were being put through these strange tests. Didn't seem like the things that were supposed to mean much except for themselves, and though she supposed it could be something about intentions, she did wonder if that were all there was to it. Then again, *Sen* had been pretty cryptic about whatever or not it was actually over before he vanished, so you never knew if more might be tossed in eventually that tried to test other sides of it.

 

But, for now it, or they, were gone and the world around them flashed back into the moving cage they had been in before, now with less pulsating, red light. There were still the blue one, and it seemed to be stronger, but it didn't change shapes or anything no matter how long she looked at them this time. They just were.

 

She kept looking at them until she were asked the question by Lin and slowly turned around, head tilted to the right as she thought about how to answer the question. She didn't lie, but she did wonder how Lin would take it if she heard it all. Poorly likely, but still...

 

"...It tested if I really wanted to help you, and saw you as friends, or just stand ins for Master Discord I would betray if given a better option. It wore your face, taken by Malvernis, and ended with it making me chose between saving Sen or live. Chose him.

 

Do you think there will be more tests? Other times when it want to make sure we belong here?"

 

Lin were still her friend however, and she deserved the truth, no matter how unpleasant it might be. Sure, she did not mention the part about Sen being broken by her and the pained expression in his eyes, but avoiding details wasn't the same as lying to her. Just simplifying.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@LeagueOfDisaster,

 

"*sigh* What am I going to do about all of this?"

 

Florence were speaking to herself as she wandered in circles outside the doors to the hospital, getting strange looks, but not caring about that as much as what she were going to do about her errand here. What that was wasn't immediately obvious, but it likely had something to do about the big sack she held in her talon that seemed mostly empty, but had something weighing it down at the bottom at least.

 

And yes, talon was the correct word to use as Florence were not a pony, but a griffin. Her feathers were mostly white, but had small, almost freckle-like greay dots here and there in patterns, mainly on her wings. She had a little tuft of feathers on the top of her head looking like she had some short hair going backwards, but beyond this she were pretty much textbook griffin. Well, except for the tail, which were the more unusual three, pure feathers rather than the lion tail, and rainbow coloured instead of following the norm.

 

She also wore some minor armor, covering her torso, kneecaps, and a little of the base of her tall-feathers, but it were not a guard uniform from any country, and had a lot of open room to make sure she stayed mobile and not too weighted down. Frankly, it looked to be mostly there to protect some of the more vital parts, and to make her tail-feathers stand out less as they too were coloured in a rainbow style, fitting the many-coloured ones down in pattern and hue almost exactly. a little off from wear and tear though, but nothing serious.

 

Regardless, it seemed like something were on her mind, and it had potentially something to do with a number of things, though really, what were a griffin doing here in the first place? It wasn't exactly a normal occurrence to see their kind here, and this one looked demonstratively less intimidating than the one who had ben here most: Gilda. More nervous and kind looking than manipulative and trying to stay cool.

 

Might be one there to create trouble and just played a part, but who could know for sure, unless they tried to talk with her and find out? Might be somepony nearby that had the want to not just side-step and give her funny looks, but actually confront her. If not for standing here, then from when she had wandered through town towards the hospital, mumbling to herself. Some might find that suspicious, depending on how paranoid they were.

[redaxted 1,765]

@@PonyOfWar @@Blitz Boom "Well, this pony seems to have set his morals straight," Golden Spell remarked quietly, so that only Cyan Flare could hear him. Cyan nodded a little. He silently wondered why War was confined to Ponyville, but he decided not to ask after a swift gust of wind buffeted the cottage.

"How long do you think we shall have to shelter here for?" he said instead. "I do hope that this problem is solved soon."

Cyan shrugged and replied, "Who knows... Depends if anypony is even trying to deal with this; we wouldn't have a clue."

[silvermoon15000 337]

I stepped into town a hood over my head to cover my head and face. My eyes scanned the area to see all the ponies moving about, all happy. I let a smile form, "perfect," I said as I put a hoof on my hood and pushed it back to reveal my face. I pulled the rest of the cloak off to reveal my navy blue fur and my cutie mark...a moon with the shadow of two horns crossing in it.

[EQ_Theta 416]

@@Blitz Boom

 

What Omen mentioned disturbed Lin, reminding her of the image of her brother with blank eyes mindlessly attacking her. What if that test had been to see if she would become the very thing she wanted to avoid the most? She would have the kind of magic to make her just like Malvernis and Omen at the same time and much more. "Sen" left with a confident look but if Lin had faked her conviction, who knows what would've happened. She was simply happy that was over. 
 

Then again, what if it was the first of many tests? Who knows how much longer they were going to stay there? Not to mention the limited amount of time Lin had on the clock. 

"I don't know, Omen," Lin replied. "We can only be prepared for so much before we make it to the wellspring. But he said maybe that was the only one we had to undergo."

The sound of the machinery screeched to a halt and the cage door opened to an illuminated passage. Beyond that was a sight most amazing and perplexing: a place where the sky was below the land, the sun beneath the clouds and mountains floating high in a horizon that showed no end. There was a flight of stairs descending into a much larger, open square and at the furthest end, there was a lone path that led to a stone stalactite jutting from the ground covered with bright blue veins. Curiously, it appears to be beating. Lin noted that structure and pointed to it. 

 

"Looks like that strange formation might be where we need to go. But look at this place; none of this should even be possible, and yet here it is! It's amazing how a place like this could exist beneath Equestria!" 

[silvermoon15000 337]

(Gotta be a filler upper)

 

 

I slowly moved through the market waving at ponies who waved back...I pushed my mane out of my eyes when it fell over them.

 

"Stupid mane...I really need to fix you," I said with a laugh.

 

I summoned a comb, it was transparent and looked like a 3D constellation. I pushed my hair back with it before I made it fade from existence.

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@@PonyOfWar,

@@Wolves,

 

Alright, so War was, essentially, an easy target then if things went down. His morals and what he said made it clearer that he wanted to protect rather than flat out attack, and needed to be sure he wouldn't just hurt an innocent. For a changeling, this were an easy target as they could menace a few to create a distraction leading into a trap, or if it were a more stealthy attack, hide well enough amongst the populace so he'd never really be sure who were an enemy and who were friend. A changeling speciality that last one, and one that worked even better on the ones who didn't want to take chances.

 

It eased his mind a bit. Sure, he wasn't currently planning on attacking the town, but you never knew if he got on the highway of misfortune and end up facing Queen Chrysalis, and if so, he really needed a bargaining chip. Stuff like there being a manipulative target like this that had some muscle to him, along with the town he were in, might sweeten the pot enough to let him save his own exoskeleton. Bad mojo for the locals, but eh, not his problem.

 

"Could also go bounty hunting for some animal that've made a lot of trouble. Particular nasty timberwolves or something like that can also be a thing that needs to be cleared out or chased off sometimes, though it sounds like you'd ask about that too before taking on the job. Regardless, rock solid morals like that can end up doing you a world of good lad, so it's grand to hear the ol' compass is turning the right way.."

 

It could also bring him a world of pain, but he'd keep that part to himself and just keep on smiling. Had to keep up appearance here after all.

 

"Mind me asking though, why're your family asked to stay here? No, no, scratch that, a bit too intrusive that one, 'specially when it's a royal request. Tends to be hush hush and all.

 

Let's try something a bit less intrusive like... How are your family? Kinda curious about who they are and how you're all doing."

 

Slightly awkward stance, back-peddling away from a question that was too invasive and going down to something that seemed more reasonable, and carried a feel of Happy being really curious if War were the odd one out or if they all were a bit special in it, but trying to avoid being rude about it. Seemed like he got the basics of this theatre down, except for the last part which would be to change focus to somepony else, along with eye-contact, to not be faced with how it started to sound to himself when he began to dig into War's family. It was a small thing, but when it came to keeping up the charade, it really were all the small things that mattered.

 

Anyway, time to switch the focus.

 

"*coff* so about the town... Shouldn't the princess be doing something about it? I mean, I heard a little about the royals before coming to the country, and it sounded like they could solve all sort of issues, and there is a castle in sight that says there's a local one of 'em. Even if there wouldn't be anypony regular that could handle it, wouldn't she be? Or have I overestimated her a bit?"

 

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@EQ_Theta,

 

Omen looked around at it all, perplexed and not knowing at first what she were supposed to say.

 

Like Lin had said, it shouldn't be possible for all of this to be here, as Omen had seen Canterlot and even she knew that there wasn't this much space beneath unless they had gone through the world and come out the other end, which didn't make sense to her either. Then there were the floating mountains, odd stairs, the beating stone and so forth.... it were a very strange place.

 

Not the mention the feeling of magic in this place. She should have been able to feel this from miles away, and yet, it wasn't until she literally stood in it that she had any idea, and it were as confusing as the place itself why she, or somepony else, hadn't a long time ago. How seriously were this place warded or kept contained in some form for that to be true? Pretty heavily she'd think, though that brought the question: Who maintained that, and this whole place in general? Were it perhaps an answer they'd get at the stone the stairs led them to?

 

"...We should go and find out. Hopefully it is not another test though."

 

Before she had the chance to take another step though, Omen were lifted into the air and violently yanked around like a rag doll before crashing back into the ground like she had been dunked. Compared to the small yanks here and there earlier, this were a rapid step up in force used, though Omen seemed fine at least as she got up and shook herself to get some dust off before looking towards the beating stone again, waiting for them to get moving.

 

Somethig that Omen hadn't taken notice of though, that Lin might, were that this time around, there had been some small, barely audible voices briefly around her whilst it went on. It wasn't possible to say exactly where they came from, but it were two voices, each of them going "Mine!" over and over again before they suddenly vanished again.

 

Hopefully this were just something that would befall Omen. Nothing good would come from Lin suddenly having the same experience with her chest pains. A little too much chest-burster over that scenario to be right in any sort of way.

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@silvermoon15000,

 

"Awh cool. Never seen any magic do that before."

 

The excited voice came from behind Silvermoon, and if he's turn around he'd meet a rather strange pony looking up at him.

 

He couldn't be more than like, 16 at most, was a bit scrawny in it, and looked at Silvermoon with fascinated eyes. One of his eyes were black like ink, whilst the other were a hazel-red colour, and his horn bent upwards like a mixture between Sombra and a regular unicorn Though, there were more odd things about him that didn't paint this a regular unicorn.

 

For one, he had a huge paintbrush on his back, and a big inkwell (with a cork in) on the right side of his body. Not enough so that it seemed like he shouldn't be able to lift it, but the brush at least seemed a bit unwieldy as it were only a little shorter than the pony himself and about as thick at the widest point as his his hoof. The brush also had markings going up the wood that, on closer inspections, looked like doodles made by a small foal. Stick figures and badly drawn suns etc.

 

His coat were a base, warm yellow, but there were pretty, swirly patterns in black going over him that looked like an artful tattoo. Not so much that he were more black than yellow, but it went on every part of his body, including his face, where it went over his black eye.

 

His mane and tail were white and tied up with some string near the end of each, so that it looked like he had a brush both down the left side of his head and his flank. Basically, the paint theme were strong in this one, though what he actually did weren't exactly obvious. And his cutie mark didn't help, as it looked like a splatter of ink, which didn't exactly rule out much.

 

"I thought only Princess Luna knew how to make things with stars. Are you in her family? Oh, that'd be So awesome!"

[silvermoon15000 337]

Caught off guard by the voice Silvermoon turned around quickly. He looked at the pony...he was young and looked rather...strange. Silvermoon gave the kid a smile, "it's summoning magic-" he said before summoning a rabbit that floated around in the same texture as the comb. The rabbit hopped around before landing on his shoulder where it rubbed it's head against Silvermoon's. "-and I actually don't know if I'm related Luna...I think it's just because I like the night, I enjoy the moon and the stars and that's why anything I summon looks this way," he said, patting the bunny with a hoof. "It is fascinating though isn't it," he said with another smile before making the rabbit disappear. "Oh...I'm Silvermoon by the way, but you can just call me Silver if you like," he said to the pony. As he waited for an answer he let his thoughts wander...he never thought of himself being related to Luna it was a possibility...but he didn't know he hadn't seen his parents since he was a young foal. A small sadness crept into him, but he didn't lose his expression, he simply just pushed it aside and let his full smile drop into a smirk.

[EQ_Theta 416]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Lin thought about Omen's words; she was worried she wasn't fit to continue down the path knowing she needed to get help. And "Sen's" encouraging words didn't seem so encouraging anymore. Her silent contemplation was broken when she heard the sound of a thud, turning around to find Omen on the ground.

Before she could say anything, she heard buzzing near her ears and the whispers of something fluttering around her. She didn't actively try to swat them away either, but she flapped her wings to get them to move aside. It was mostly in vain though as whatever she was trying to move aside constantly came back and... played with her wings.

 

"This is... very awkward." Lin examined herself and felt some of the pain in her chest fade away, though this one was more noticeable now than much earlier when she and Omen were in the descending cage.

 

"H-Hey... whatever it is you are. Could you show yourselves so my friend and I could get a better look at you? We aren't going to hurt you, that's for sure."

[Seamore Sandwich 470]

@@Rapid Wind

@@Blitz Boom

 

"I'll help with reconstruction. I have had to fix my roof a few times, failed experiments and such," Penny added amongst the other offers for help. She had decided she should at least stay to help with repairs since she was involved with causing some of the damage in the first place. Meanwhile, Princess Twilight was writing up a list of who was on what teams, using the names of the guards from the uniforms, and representing the rest with their cutie marks until such time she could get their names. Luna began to speak in a toned down version of her Royal Canterlot voice, "Now that the teams have been decided, We would like to announce that there will be an award ceremony for those that fought the creature, as well as for those who have guarded it over the millennia to prevent its escape. At this time, we do not have an exact date, as arrangements have yet to be made. With that, this meeting has concluded. Last Stand, you may now take charge of your teams." The other guards and volunteers began to get out of their seats and make their way out into the hall.

Edited August 8, 2016 by Seamore Sandwich

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@@silvermoon15000,

 

The colt's eyes were fixated on the rabbit from it arrived to when it vanished, hearing what were told him, but not answering before there were no more celestial rabbit in sight.

 

"It looked so detailed. And alive! That's some really impressive stuff... Silver."

 

He needed a short moment to collect himself and remember the name after the show, but it got to him eventually. It was just that the things he had seen Silver do had been really mesmerizing, and wandered around his head a lot. Fascinating, artistic things like that tended to have that effect on him.

 

"Anyway, my name's Cover-up. Nice to meet you."

 

A cheeky grin was sent upwards to Silver from the strange, but seemingly friendly colt.

 

"And summoning magic? Sweet. Also very artistic. I like art a lot, but I guess you can see that on me... Wanna see something I can make? It's not as impressive as what you did, but then again, what is?"

 

Cover-up seemed like he really wanted to show what he could do to Silver, but the reason for it wasn't that he wanted to try and show off. No, he wanted to show somepony who seemed to have a lot of artistic talent - the details in the summoning magic was too perfect to make him think otherwise - what he could do, because he sought approval from others about what he did. It mjight not seem like it, but he had a lot of issues with poor self-esteem in his life, and though he had managed to get past the worst of it, the hunger for approval from somepony that would understand it was still very prevalent.

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@EQ_Theta,

 

"Oooh, can we?"

 

"Hey, you know the rules."

 

"But rules are boooooring. I wanna play, and you keep pushing them away from me."

 

"Pout all you want, it's not helping. I'm not bulging. Nuhuh. Nada. Not at all."

 

Both the voices seemed to be female, though their location were still a mystery. Whatever, or whoever, they were, they kept themselves hidden from sight for now and apparently... Well, discussed whatever or not they could show themselves, or just keep playing around hidden. It sounded like they weren't supposed to from the slightly more stern voice, but the other one didn't really seem to care much for what they and weren't supposed to do. Which became even more evident as the air started to flicker near one of Lin's wings and shortly thereafter, a curious little thing would be seen, blowing to the wings and pulling them etc. like a foal who got a new toy they had to explore. Minus the *shoving it into their mouths* part.

 

It was a familiar form, if either of them had ever heard of or encountered breezies. It carried the form of the small, fragile beings at least, though this one were constantly changing colour, hues, and even mixing and matching ones to look a bit like a bee or something else. She had a wild mane and tail seemingly not kept under check and she emitted a faintly smoking aura around her of whatever colour she would be at any given time.

 

She didn't get much chance to examine the large wings more before she were pulled back a little, struggling against seemingly nothing before another flicker happened and another breezie-looking thing showed up, though this one having more of a controlled look gooing over her with not a single hair on her mane or tail going stray away from the straightened, silvery style. She were a base white, and like the other, glowed/smoked with a faint aura, though her colours and such remained the same.

 

"Oooh, look what you've done. We're gonna get in trouble for this..."

 

"Booh to that. We're just having fun. Stupid rules if they stop that."

 

The two struggled against one another before eventually, the light one just gave a sigh and let go of the wild one, who immediatly went over and started to poke Omen around, both in the sense that her tiny hooves literally touched her, and that some sort of magic pushed her closer when Omen tried to take a step back.

 

As for the orderly one, she looked between them all before settling on Lin, and speaking to her. From a safe distance of course, though you could see fro the look in her eyes that she really wanted to examine this one too. Like when they had been invisible just before.

 

"...It's too much to hope you're both blind and can't see us, right?"

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@Seamore Sandwich,

@@Rapid Wind,

 

Last saluted the princess as she announced the meeting to be over, and her duty in town were to begin. Something that she wasn't going to waste any time with, starting with Penny.

 

"Time to get going then. You, if you're used to fixing your roof, you can help asses what needs to be fixed with the ones that are damaged now. I'm sending you off with the Night Guard to get that evaluated, then start to bring the supplies needed. We'll start at the north end of the disaster site, then work clockwise around so the debris removal can stay active along with us.

 

Everypony who's on debris removal starts there while we get supplies ready. I'll oversee it, and make sure the parts that can be reused are. The rest will be gathered in the middle of the square so we can remove it all at once when we're done."

 

She kept on like this as she went down the line of volunteers, talking about how she wanted who to do what in the most time efficient way that wasn't going to cost them a ton on supplies. No need to waste perfectly good stone if it could be helped, as long as they lived up to her quality requirements of course. That was a recurring theme with this through it all really, that she wanted to make sure that things were not done halfway, so she'd keep watch on things and direct it as needed.

 

A few ponies got pointed out as foreponies in debris removal, supplies, and builders, depending on what skills they had as she asked around briefly. She needed some that knew how to direct others to action, as she wouldn't always be able to be there, as even when focused in one area at a time, there'd be several areas to attend to, and always something going wrong at least one place. Plan for disaster, hope for perfection basically.

 

Penny and Stargazer were quickly put on control of the roof part of the builders, as she were certain that a Night Guard - and especially one his size - would be able to get others to listen, and Penny for what sounded like expertise until further notice. She might have been able to get one pony for all of the builder management, but it felt safer to have some directed on the roof, and some on the walls.

 

When she were done with everything, she went straight out and towards the town, not thinking about lingering when she had work to get on with, even if she hadn't specifically addressed all the volunteers. Such as Rapid, which she had apparently just lumped in along with the workers and breezed over it. He'd likely do well on the roof duty without having to fly, so if he were willing to listen, there'd be something for him there.

 

As for Stargazer, he let out a small sigh and began to go towards the exit as well. Much as he wanted to see how his friend were doing, this was important for the town, and as he had been appointed into a few, important jobs, he had to get on with them. Starting with taking contact to his companion, which made him stop up and aim towards Penny on his path.

 

"Excuse me ma'am. Name's Stargazer, and I guess we're in the same boat, huh? Would you be ready if we start now?"

[silvermoon15000 337]

Silvermoon smiled..."thanks and sure show me what you can do," he said waiting for the colt to go to work...cover up is a nice name...he thought to himself ad he saw the colt smile. When he mentioned that Silvermoon's stuff was hard to beat he put a hoof behind his head, "I've seen ponies do better with normal paint or other artistic values...but yeah it's great." He said embarrassed.

[Rapid Wind 47]

@Blitz Boom & @Seamore Sandwich

 

Rapid Wind was a little unconfident about this, he hadn't much change to get his own voice heard, but decided he would speak up to accept the task of helping with the roofs.

 

 "Well, if you're ready, ma'am, we can move out," Rapid Wind spoke up.

[EQ_Theta 416]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Ignoring the growing pains in her chest and radiating to the rest of her body, Lin answered to the voice with a cheery "Maybe. Our eyes are working just fine last I checked. I'm still getting used to seeing all of this, though. This wellspring, the whole thing is incredible and unexpected!"

She continued her down the first flight of stairs to a much larger, open floor while staying closer to the sides to see how the surface is being held up. Just like the pieces of land as far as her eyes could see, the ground she stood on was floating in the air. Turning back to where the cage was, there was a noticeable lack of ground above her, save for one narrow column or shaft shooting straight to the ground above her. 

"Who... or what exactly are you?" Lin asked, scooting about as she tried to get a good look at who is talking to her.